Movie Review: Humshakals

If you've ever watched a film at a theater, you’d know the worst and most annoying thing that could happen to you is if someone gets up in the middle of the show and starts walking in the aisle in front. Shazam! There goes your view of the movie screen. Funny thing is, in more than two-and-a-half hours of the Humshakals press screening, at least two dozen people chose to get up mid-movie and walk out and in, getting refreshments, visiting restrooms and just generally taking breaks. But there wasn't a single peep of dissatisfaction. No one complained. Perhaps the silhouette of a person blocking the movie was a respite audiences were subconsciously looking forward to.

The movie is the equivalent of 20 gag scenes shot independently and stitched together during editing and compiled to a feature film length. So you have Saif Ali Khan and Riteish Deshmukh playing best friends in England. Curiously Saif is a billionaire who likes to be a stand-up comedian too. When he performs at a bar in England, he cracks Hindi jokes and every Anglo member of the audience understands what he’s talking about. Most of his jokes are borrowed from the diary of a wimpy Indian kid who has no friends. Nonetheless, Saif has an evil mama (uncle) whose name’s acronym actually comes out to KANS. Mind is blown! Ram Kapoor plays this mama and his diabolical plot is to prove Saif and Ritesh are crazy and take reigns of the empire. Over the next 150 minutes you’re introduced to two more Saif Ali Khans, Ritesh Deshmukhs and Ram Kapoors.

Juvenile humour and racist remarks aside (which Humshakals has plentiful) this film assumes watching mentally unstable people and their loony behavior is entertainment. If it were, mental asylums would charge a price of admission. But Sajid Khan chooses to ignore any such argument. Because everything’s possible in slapstick. So you have Saif and Ritesh behaving like dogs. Then like retards and drunkards. Followed by dressing up in drag. Further followed by being lecherous. And finally performing like stereotypical homosexuals. If you think any of this turns out to be funny in the film, you’re wrong. If you have even the most remote sense of decency, every act that Saif, Ritesh and Ram are paraded through this film, will offend you and your sensibility.

Credit to Saif Ali Khan, Riteish Deshmukh and Ram Kapoor who have performed the most inane character traits with conviction. The only problem is why did they agree to this? The three heroines, Bipasha Basu, Tamannaah Bhatia and Esha Gupta are reduced to filler scenes and dancing in numbers. Satish Shah has been relegated to the most horrendous caricature ever. And why is Darshan Jariwala in this movie?

Ironically, Sajid Khan dedicates this film to the memory of three legendary comedians – Kishore Kumar, Jim Carrey and Peter Sellers. These comedians are identified the world over for their genius at mad cap comedy. Yes each of these comedians excelled at slapstick in one form or another, but to dedicate to them a film about “crazy” characters is taking homage a bit too far.

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